Modified textile materials and method of treating same



Patented Oct. 19, 1937 OFFICE MODIFIED TEXTILE MATERIALS AND METHOD OF TREATING SAME William Whitehead, Cumberland,- Md., assignor to C'elanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application May 1,1935, Serial No. 19,200

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to the modification of yarns and other textile materials containing an organic derivative of cellulose while the same are in transit from a source of supply to a packaging device or during other winding operations. This invention especially relates to the treatment in localized areas'of yarns containing an ester of cellulose with a saponifying' agent or other modifying agent that contains a substance permitting the operator to visually ascertain the amount and extent of treatment.

An object of the invention is the economic and expeditious production of yarns treated with a modifying agent, having a color imparting material therein, making visible the amount and extent of treatment. Other objects of the inventionwill appear from the, following detailed description.

By the prior methods of treating yarns or a plurality of yarns such as a warp or fabric with a modifying agent that has little or no color effect on the yarns, one was not able to observe the manner in which the treatment was being applied. In such processes as the application of a saponifying agent to yarns containing an ester of cellulose for sensitizing same for future treatments to develop the saponification, irregularities in the application of the saponifying agent were often not recognized until the yarns were 30 formed into a fabric. By applying a saponifying or other colorless modifying agent in accordance with my invention, however, the application of the same may be watched as the same is being applied and corrections of irregulari- 35 ties in the treatment immediately made.

In accordance with my invention, I treat yarns, warps or fabrics with substances that tend to modify various properties of the yarn and i-n corporate with those substances a coloring ma- 40 terial that has no affinity for the textile material, either before or after the modifying action, for the purpose of rendering visible the extent and amount of treatment applied to the yarn. Further, in accordance with my invention, I apply to 45 textile materials such as yarns, warps and fabrics containing filaments of organic esters of cellulose a saponifying or sensitizing agent that renders the textile materials susceptible to the development of saponification by subsequent 50 treatments. The sensitizing agent is adapted to partially saponify the yarns, said agent preferably containing a colored organic material having no affinity for the textile materials either before or after they have been saponified.

55 This invention is applicable to the treatment of yarn, bands of yarn, fabric or any type of textile material where the treating agent applied is of the same or similar color to the yarn being treated, making it difficult to see the amount or extent of treatment. This invention 5 is applicable to the total, partial, intermittent or other types of sap onifying actions. This invention, however, is of particular importance in the saponifying or sensitizing for subsequent development of saponification of yarns containing or- 10 ganic esters of cellulose. The inventionwill be described in detail with respect to the saponifying and sensitizing of yarns, etc. containing organic esters of cellulose.

Any suitable organic ester of cellulose may be 15 employed in the yarn, fabric or warp to be sensitized or saponified. For example, I may employ such organic esters of cellulose as cellulose acetate, cellulose formate, cellulose butyrate and cellulose propionate. Although this invention is of particular importance in the treatment of yarns consisting only of filaments of organic esters of cellulose, it nevertheless is applicable to yarns formed from-a mixture of differing filaments, such as a mixture of filaments containing organic esters of cellulose and other textile filaments and fibres such as cotton, wool, silk, flax, regenerated cellulose made by the cuprammonium or viscose methods, and other similar fibres or filaments. When applying this invention to warps or fabrics, it is only necessary that the same contain some yarns consisting of organic esters of cellulose or some yarns containing filaments or fibres of organic esters of cellulose. Thus, warps and fabrics may be made by altermating or putting in any sequence yarns containing organic esters of cellulose and yarns made of other textile materials.

The yarns, warps or fabrics may be caused to be sensitized by contacting the same continuously or periodically with a furnishing device supplying a saponifying agent to the yarn in sufiicient amount and concentration to etch the surface of the filamentsby the saponifying agent. These sensitized yarns may be caused to develop a high degree of saponification in the parts sensitized by a treatment with a soap solution or other solution having a pH value between 8 and 10.5. The amount of saponification necessary' to sensitize the filaments to saponification in baths may be very light and to an extent that they lose only from two to 7% of their weight. This very light saponification, although capable of being developed in later treatments to a-very heavy saponification, is, nevertheless, so light that it is difficult to observe at the stage of the application of the saponifying agent to the yarn. In a'ccordance with my invention, however, there is incorporated with the saponifying agent a colored organic material that has no effect on the organic esters of cellulose or upon the saponified organic esters of cellulose and that is readily washable from the yarns, warps or fabrics. By this means the operator may readily see how much of the area is being contacted by the saponifying agent and by comparison of color ascertain the differential degrees of saponification on those parts contacted.

The sensitizing or saponifying agent employed to treat the yarns, filaments or fabrics containing the organic ester of cellulose may be any suitable saponifying agent having a pH value of from 10.5 to 14. Any suitable basic solution may be employed for this purpose, such as an aqueous solution or an alcoholic solution of an alkali hydroxide, for instance, sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, an aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide, a salt of a strong base, such as ammonia or alkali, and a weak acid such as organic acids, organic compounds having a basic reaction, etc. Examples of salts of a strong base and organic acids which may be employed for this invention are sodium acetate, potassium acetate, etc. Examples of organic bases that may be employed as the sensitizing or saponifying agent are the primary, secondary and tertiary amines, for instance, ethanol amine, methanol amine, dimethanol amine, di-ethanol amine, tri-methanol amine and tri-ethanol amine. Also, quaternary ammonium bases may be employed, for instance, tetra methyl ammonium hydroxide, tetra ethyl ammonium hydroxide, etc. These may be applied to the yarn from aqueous solutions, which solutions may be of any suitable concentration such that the pH value of the solution is above 10.5.

With any of the above listed or similar saponii fying agents there may be mixed an organic substance having a distinct color. This organic substance is to be of a type that is not reduced to a colorless liquid in strongly basic solutions when mixed with the same' and held in contact with the same for long periods of time, for instance, one day to three weeks. .In this respect the material is to be considered inert if it does not lose its color or appreciably change color over a period of three weeks. Furthermore, the colored organic material should be selected such that it has no dyeing effect upon the textile materials to which it is applied and should preferably be merely a fugitive tint capable of being removed I easily, by scouring, from the material. Another property desirable inthe organic coloring material is that it be easily removed by cold scour ing treatments that may or may not contain soap. Examples of suitable colored organic materials for the treatment of textile materials con-' may be any suitable furnishing device such as a wick, roller or disc for individual yarns or a printing machine for warps and fabrics. The treating composition may contain any suitable concentration of the basic saponifying material and the colored organic material. ploying alkali hydroxides as the basic substance, the modifying agent or treating composition may contain from 10 to 30% by weight of same and to this may be added from .5 to 5 parts by weight of the colored organic material. The mixture of saponifying agent, colored organic material and carrier which may be either Water, alcohol or similar substance, may be applied to the textile materials in amounts from per cent to 8 per cent on the Weight of the textile material.

For the purpose of further describing this invention and not as a limitation, the following example is given.

Example Yarn formed of filaments of cellulose acetate travelling from a supply package to a take-up package at, for instance, about 100 metres per minute is caused to periodically contact with a furnishing roller. The furnishing roller may be caused to dip into the mixture consisting of parts by weight of Water, 20 parts by weight of sodium hydroxide and part by weight of Amidonaphthol Red G. Theyarn, where treated,

will have a distinctive orange red color while the parts not treated will be of the white or natural color. The yarns so formed may be made into a warp or used as a filling in the formation of a fabric. After the fabric is formed, the samemay be treated in a heated aqueous bath containing 10 grams per litre of soap. All trace of color is removed from the fabric and those parts of the yarn that were sensitized by the above saponifying action are developed to an extent of saponification such that they have lost from 10 to 20% by weight and their affinity for dye materials correspondingly changed.

Although the invention has been described with particular reference to saponifying or sensitizing yarns containing organic esters of cellulose, it is also applicable to other treatments of textile materials. For instance, this invention may be employed in the process where, acids, alcohols, solvents, softening agents, etc., are applied'to yarns of artificial materials to deluster, reluster, shrink or otherwise change the properties of same. It may also be employed in the application of resist materials in resist printing operations.

The above description is merely given by way of illustration and many modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

When em- Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. 'Method of treating textile materials containing organic esters of cellulose, which comprises intermittently applying to said cellulose ester materials a composition adapted to saponify at least the surface of said materials, said composition containing acolored organic material having no affinity for the unsaponified portion and fugitive to the saponified portion so as to render visible the saponifled portion by coloring the same.

2. Method of treating textile materials containing cellulose acetate, which comprises intermittently applying to said cellulose acetate materials a composition adapted to saponify at least.

the surface of said materials, said composition 75 containing a colored organic material having no afiinity for the unsaponified portion and fugitive;

to the saponifled portion so as to render visible .the saponified portion by coloring the same.

3. Method of treating textile materials containing organic esters of cellulose, which com-' prises intermittently applying to said cellulose ester materials a composition containing an alkali hydroxide adapted to cause at least partial saponification of said materials, said composition also containing a colored organic material having no aflinity for the unsaponified portion and fugitive to thesaponifled portion so as to render visible the saponified' portion by coloring the same. a 1 '4. Method of treating textile materials containing cellulose acetate, which comprises'intermittently applying to said cellulose acetate materials a composition containing an alkali hy-v droxide adapted to cause at least partial .saponifica'tion of said materials, said composition also containing a colored organic material having no .afiinity for the unsaponified portion and fugitive to the saponifiedportion so as to render visible the saponified portion by coloring the same.

5. Method of treating textile materials con- ,taining. cellulose acetate, which comprises intermittently applying to said cellulose acetate materials a composition containing an alkali hydroxide adapted to cause at least partial saponiflcation of said materials, said composition also containing a dyestufi' having no ailinity for the unsaponified portion and fugitive to the saponi-' fled portion and substantially. unafi'ected by strong solutions oi alkali hydroxides and adapted to color said textile material to render visible the saponified portion.

6. Method of treating textile materials con- I taining organic esters of cellulose, which comprises intermittently applying to said cellulose ester materials a composition containing an alkali hydroxide adapted to cause at least partial saponification of said materials, said composition also containing an organic coloring matter, selected from the group consisting of Xylene Light Yellow 2G, Tartrazine, Amidonaphthol Red G and Acid Magenta B, so as to render visible the sav ponified portion of the materials. 

